(COMTEX) B: Terabit Router Vendors Announce Beta Shipments
B: Terabit Router Vendors Announce Beta Shipments
May 14, 1999 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Terabit router vendors are
using NetWorld + Interop in Las Vegas to announce the long-awaited beta
shipments of their products.
Avici Systems, in North Billerica, Mass., said its Terabit
Switch/Router, which has been in development for three years, will be
deployed by GST Telecommunications, in Vancouver, Wash., on the West
coast leg of the Next Generation Internet project -- a research network
stretching from Seattle to San Diego. Nexabit Networks, in Marlborough,
Mass., said Frontier Communications, of Rochester, N.Y., would be
testing its NX64000.
According to Alan Hannan, director of network architecture at Frontier
Globalcenter -- the carrier's IP division -- Nexabit's OC192
(10-gigabit-per-second) ports were a critical factor in its decision.
If the terabit router lives up to its promise, Hannan said it could
help Frontier build some of the Internet's first 10-Gbps links -- four
times faster than today's zippiest circuits.
Both terabit start-ups said their gear scales far beyond the capacity
of core routers such as the GSR 12000 from Cisco, in San Jose, Calif.,
and the M40 from Juniper Networks, in Mountain View, Calif., which
deliver an aggregate capacity of 25 Gbps and 20 Gbps. Avici said
chaining chassis lets its bit-blaster pump out 5.6 terabits per second,
while Nexabit said its switching backplane delivers 6.4 Tbps.
What about the challenge from optical start-ups such as Monterey
Networks, of Richardson, Texas, and Sycamore Networks, in Chelmsford,
Mass.? Some industry experts said they think so-called optical switches
could eventually obviate the need for terabit routers, but the jury is
still out. Hannan, for one, is keeping his mind -- and options -- open.
There's no doubt more capacity will be needed on his network, he said.
It's mainly a question of which vendors can deliver the goods first.
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Copyright (C) 1999 CMP Media Inc.
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